Prologue: The eyes behind the mask
My name is Helena Wood. Now that I'm lying beside some other bodies, my view at the stars disturbed by spells getting fired, I'm wondering how I could have let this happen. I'm terrified, because of lightheadedness that is slowly taking me, and the curses which could kill people important to me.
People on both sides.
My school uniform is ripped to shreds. Although I had made it suffer through a lot of damage before, it had never bothered me as much as it did now. If I would die, I hoped they would fix it. I hoped they wouldn't make the same mistake I did in failing to appreciate this token of the person I used to be. The person I was permitted to be, until recently.
I wished I hadn't stopped continuing to participate in House rivalry. I wish I hadn't taken simplicity away. I wish I didn't have a tendency to love the things I hate.
I still remember the degrading way he used to speak to me. I remember it changing over time. Appreciative at first, and then suddenly fearful, realizing the power I had held over him. He used to smile at me in a way no one else did. Nothing really remains of that now. Now that his face is covered by a mask.
But I can still see his terrified eyes behind it. The eyes that tell me that he needs me still. I wonder where I get the energy to chuckle pathetically at this thought. He betrayed my trust. Hell, I think he always will, in some way. If we would get through this, which I doubted.
Still, at the thought of his need for me, I slowly raise my upper body, then the rest. I ignore the dizziness, the pain and the dread at the thought of facing battle again like this. I focus solely on those terrified pale eyes in my mind.
And find strength.
I find fire a curseAnd I find strength.